Should I take on some street bike wheels for a rainy day?

[OnTheSpotMobile]

I just got an email from a customer asking if I could polish his street bike wheels. He said he could sand blast them first. I've done some old Harley cases and heads but I don't do a lot of metal. The wet sanding is a lot of work.



Any thoughts?

 

[Richard Grasa]

I wouldn't want to do it. Polishing is too much work for too little $ IME. Especially if there's alot of tight corners and stuff you need to get into. If you want to do it, I'd quote high enough to make it worth it but not worry if the quote is too high to get the job.

 

[safetyman2010]

I just got an email from a customer asking if I could polish his street bike wheels. He said he could sand blast them first. I've done some old Harley cases and heads but I don't do a lot of metal. The wet sanding is a lot of work.



Any thoughts?

If you have the expertise to do the job and deliver satisfactory results and charge a decent buck for it I say go for it. However, metal polishing in my opinion can be extremely tedious and time consuming and difficult to charge out a decent rate for. I would have him come by with the wheels for a visual inspection first so you can see exactly what he wants and gauge how long it will take you.

 

[Ron Ketcham]

Scotty---YUUPP!

The offer to sand blast them is most likely going to make the job take even longer.

Soda blast is the way I would go and make sure he understand that any pricing is an "estimate", nothing more.

Being as I am retired, I work pretty cheap, but even with that, the minimum is $30 an hour plus a materials cost.

It's easy to eat up $20 in sand paper and another $15 in rouge, not including the buffing wheels, which would require some special ones.

Hope that if it is taken on, they have a big compressor and good air grinders/buffers, as a lot of air CFM will be needed.

Grumpy